


The Offer

by Its_Mei



Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2019-07-04
Packaged: 2020-06-03 17:46:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19468981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Its_Mei/pseuds/Its_Mei
Summary: An interaction between Kenneth and a detective named Charles.





	The Offer

The swamps surrounding Saint Denis is an unforgiving place. The wildlife is one part of it, but the people...the people were even less trustworthy. Mei had come across enough strange fruit to hold that conclusion, one of the many reasons she makes leaving the city a rarity. Firing a gun in a densely compacted city was a recipe for years in prison, and Mei had little, if any desire to spend her life in a cell. Who would?  
A 'friend', rather a colleague that she has run a job with the night before had reached out to her via letter and sent word to a gunsmith on market square. An additional gift for a job well done. Anything that could get her out of the painful social malaise that enveloped her family's home every waking day was a positive, so why not? Mei was not one to use a pistol, when she was hired it was for her prodigious skill with a lockpick. She could get into any safe with relative ease, any locked door was but a minor inconvenience for her, no matter the make. To say her sharpshooting was mediocre would be...generous. Mei always struggled with pulling the hammer down on every shot, more importantly she was abysmal at reloading a revolver in high stress situations. Bullets were more likely to scatter across the ground than rest in a chamber.

As an added gift for getting the mysterious detective from the previous evening into a post office near the docks, she had an invitation to try out an odd semi automatic handgun. A European weapon that had no need for pulling a hammer after every shot. Not accurate in the slightest past 30 meters but with all honesty, neither was she. It was a match made in heaven.

She checked the chamber quickly and took a deep breath, grasping the pistol in two hands, thumbs tucked underneath the hammer, and fired--hitting a tree not too far away from her. She pulled the trigger immediately afterward--grazed the tree, it was fast. Her eyes widened in shock, an amazing weapon, a frightening weapon.

"Beautiful work of art, ain't she?" an older man from afar asked in a raised voice, a thick southern drawl escaping his lips.  
Mei lifted her head and gave a sidelong glance toward the road, it was the detective she had helped the night before, a man named Charles. A man who looks like he has seen more than his fair share in life, carries himself with a slight limp, scars running along his weathered hands, a glint in his eye regardless. Despite being older he looks like he has more than enough life in him. She needed to clear her throat. After all, she is Kenneth.

"...Yes." She said, bringing the gun down, "I never thought it possible, having something so small fire so effortlessly."

"Consider it a gift for your...contribution. Without you, I wouldn't have gotten the...information I need, served justice. You like justice, don't you?" He folded his arms, badge glinting in the sunlight barely peeking its way through the thick foliage of the swampland.

Kenneth didn't rightly know how to respond, though bowed her head, "Yes, justice is fine. I'm glad you got what you needed, that you asked for my help."

Charles could only chuckle, "Well well, I see potential for great things in anyone, even you Chinese." The phrase made Kenneth stiffen up. "I am glad that your skills were placed on my lap, it's heartbreaking work is so hard to come by with your...unique profession. Helping out a man in need is only the right thing to do, especially here. You see, Saint Denis is...a land of opportunity, correct?" He grinned afterward, gold capped teeth proudly displayed. Kenneth didn't like being led through a conversation in such a way, but what could she do? Tell the lawman who gave her a job to leave her alone? That she doesn't appreciate it? Work is few and far between, he's right. It also meant he could talk down to her as much as he wanted, she had very little leverage despite her skill, her history isn't the most glowing after all. "...Yes, yes it is."

Charles keeps his grin, his leathery face twisting up with almost a sinister aura to it. "Now, you know I wouldn't offer this to anyone, but you have potential. A lot of it, I can't guarantee you a place among the force for...obvious reasons but I'd be more than happy to have you as an assistant." Kenneth knew the gun wasn't just out of the goodness of his heart, he was offering her steady employment. Part of her yearned for justice, to do the right thing in a world filled with too much wrong. Such an offer levied toward her was...satisfying, she had never considered it. "...Can you guarantee steady pay?" Kenneth asked, her normally masculine tone breaking if only for a moment. Her surprise was palpable. 

"Well...unfortunately, sometimes work may dry up." He coughed, "Not all the time, but it beats taking any work you can find regardless of morality, doesn't it?" Her heart sank. She knew it was too good to be true, she was barely making ends meet as it was. Not to mention if he ever found out that she's a woman would spell the end of her career. No, working for herself was the only solution. Now and possibly forever.

"...With all due respect Charles, I appreciate the offer." Kenneth replied, stuttering before continuing, "B-but I need reliable employment, I can't put food on the table every night as it is, if I have breaks in pay I'd have to take freelance work though I'd like to think I have a moral code I abide by. I hope you understand."

The man frowned, "I...wish that would be okay, but it's not. Regardless of how strong your moral code may be to you, I have met enough of ya to know that you'll take any job regardless of the law. If I am discovered hiring someone who was actively breaking the law, I'm finished." He pauses a bit and Kenneth went back to cradling the pistol, firing off another shot into the tree while focusing in, though she heard his voice once she shot the gun, "...You do know that it's a matter of time, right?"

Kenneth paused and lowered the gun once more "Excuse me?" She asked with a perplexed tone.

"A matter of time before your luck runs out." the Detective continued, "Every person in your line of work with...questionable intent only continues out of some form of luck. No matter how much you practice, no matter how much you prepare. Something or...well, someone will go wrong. We ain't like those savages in New Austin, you ain't gonna be hanged for stealing because...let's be honest, you don't got what it takes to kill a man. I can tell, you hold that gun with no conviction, it's wasted in your hands but...well, I like you." His words stung Kenneth just a bit, whether right or wrong, she didn't want to be known as a killer as it's the thing she's farthest from, but being pidgeonholed into a role rubbed her the wrong way. "Though let's be clear, we may have worked together today and you may have skirted what is acceptable among law abiding citizens, but if I find you out and about, breakin' and enterin', pokin' at locks, I have no issues sending you up north to break rocks for a decade, is that clear?"

Kenneth was frozen in thought as she holstered the pistol, how could she respond? It took her seconds to respond though felt like hours, "I understand, I assure you, I will only pursue honest means." He probably realizes she has no intention of keeping it that way but what else could she say. That she was going to break the law? Charles only sighed and took a step back toward his horse that was hitched to a tree on the other side of the road, "I...hope you change your mind. I'd hate to see potential go to waste." He called out before giving his horse a swift kick, galloping into the bright lights of Saint Denis.

Who was once Kenneth became Mei, letting out a sigh as she gazed to the ground. An odd conversation, she stared down at the gun and could only ask herself if this was truly her future. Sitting in a prison cell and mindlessly turning rock into rubble. If it weren't for an unending lust to prove her doubters wrong she would have taken a factory job by now. At least she could hang her hat on not being put to death. Small victories. Regardless, she had her fill with practicing today, patting her newfangled handgun and walking over to Faith, unhitching and drawing in the reins, a soft galloping into the city much like the detective.

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Mei walked out of the general store, the thought made her hungry for a snack. She was frail on a good day, so getting some food in her could only do her good, and decided on a stick of dried venison that she bit into hungrily. Sitting on the curb of the sidewalk as she ate with Faith hitched not too far away, she watched citizens go about their daily lives. Some happy, some sad. Some walking with a purpose, some moving with none. Where does she fit into all of this? Where will her choices take her? Was pretending to be a man truly sustainable? Mei let out a groan and stood up once she finished her snack, briskly walking to the alleyway beside the shop. Making her way along the filthy side street she stopped in front of a metal box beside an alley, she gave it a swift smack with the side of her fist, causing the lid to open. Sticking her hand inside she feels around for a note--finding one. Regardless of where she will go, whatever choices she decides to make in life, where she will end up when everything is said and done, she has a job to do. A reputation to uphold, it was going to be another busy night in Saint Denis.


End file.
